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by mistressinwaiting
Summary: The prequel of dragon lady龍女ドラゴンレディー, have you ever wondered what happened before Shizune's death? How Sakura ended up working with Madara and Team Hebi? Well, here's the story behind it.
1. Chapter 1: At The Beginning

--The prequel of dragon lady龍女ドラゴンレディー, have you ever wondered what happened before Shizune's death? Well, here's the story behind it. ----Based on a Whole lot of things---

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**OMG! I finally got the prequel up! Yay! Oh, and the chapter is named after Richard Marx & Donna Lewis's song At The Beginning from _Anastasia_ (the cartoon one), and the mini-story is named after Ayumi Hamasaki's song of the same name. Enjoy!**

**I guess you can call this my seventh fanfiction, but it's really just a prequel, okay? I probably won't update this often because I have to match this up to dragon lady龍女ドラゴンレディー but hopefully I can update this a few times a month or something. Thank you for supporting me for so long!**

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1. At the Beginning

"Kiba! Have you got a lock on him yet?"

"No, not yet, Sakura, but I'll find his scent soon!" Akamaru barked in conformity with this.

"Do not worry, Sakura. Kiba and Akamaru have the _best_ noses in all of Konoha! They _will_ find him."

"Yeah, thanks, Lee. But I only needed an _answer_, not some confirmation that I already know!"

"Calm down, Ugly. You'll need _all_ your energy if you're going to fight him."

"I already told you! I'm not _fighting_ him! I'm just _talking_ to him! That's all!"

"But then . . . what are you going to do if he won't listen to you and just wants to fight?" _And why did you bring the rope, poison, extra kunai, and smoke screen? Seems like you're going to fight him to_ _me…_

"Well, Sai, I had a _perfectly_ good plan. If he wanted to fight then I'd just run until I '_accidentally'_ bump into one of the Kages and pretend to be an innocent villager being hunted down by people I don't even know. But _you guys_ insisted on coming! So _you're_ going to do _all_ the fighting _for_ me. See how _that_ works?"

"Uh . . . no, seriously, Sakura, what _do_ you plan to do?" Kiba asked.

"I _was_ being serious." Sakura muttered.

"_For real_?" Lee asked, unable to believe his Blossom of Youth would do something so un-youthful.

"_NO_!! I PLAN ON BEATING THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF THAT COLD, HEARTLESS BASTARD AND DRAG HIS LIFELESS BODY BACK TO KONOHA!!!!!" Sakura's scream could be heard all around the ninja world, striking fear into everyone who heard it. "WHAT DO YOU _THINK_ I WAS GOING TO DO!?! _BEG_ HIM TO COME HOME!?! THERE'S NO WAY _IN HELL_ I WOULD DO THAT AGAIN!!" And with that off her chest, she sped away—about fifteen yards away from her group.

"Man! Ugly sure is scary when she's angry…" Sai said, still smiling, but his smile twitched a little at the ends._ I actually feel _bad_ for the Uchiha… I hope we don't find him anytime soon, but it would be great if I got that whole fight recorded for everyone to see. I don't actually recall anyone saying that those two ever fought before. Maybe this is their first battle… Ooh, first lover's quarrel! This is gonna be good!_

"Well, she _is_ Lady Tsunade's apprentice…" Lee said, trying to defend his "blossom." _Yes! She is over him! That means I can ask her out! Yay!_ He inwardly was dancing a touchdown dance.

"Actually, I think she's _scarier_ than the Hokage… You can practically feel the flames of Hell surrounding Sakura, right now." Kiba said. _Man, I hope she doesn't take all that anger out on _us_ if she doesn't find him… But just in case, I should think about what I want to write on my will. "I, Inuzuka Kiba, leave my dog, Akamaru, to my sister, Hana, and I leave all of my savings to--_

But as he thought of what he wanted to write on his will, he smelled something burning. "Sakura, get out of the way!" he yelled.

"Huh?" The kunoichi stopped dead in her tracks. "What is it, Kiba?" But the burning smell amplified. She turned around and saw a great, huge glob of lava[1] flying straight at her. "_Kyaa_!" She jumped back, and beam of ocean water swirled towards the lava glob. And on impact, the two jutsu created a super dense fog, so thick that you couldn't see _anything_.

"Keep your guard up, you guys!" Sai's voice echoed through the seemingly lonely area.

"Right!" everyone replied, kunai out.

But Sakura knew better. _The only ninja who can use lava-based attacks are those with a special kekkei genkai, and the only woman I know that can use it is--_

"Oh, my! It's Saki[2]!" the very flirtatious voice.

_That voice!_ "Go-Godaime Mizukage-san?" Sakura asked through the fog that had begun to lift, and she was met with a life-crushing hug.

"Oh, Saki! It's so _good_ to see you again! I thought you had _died_ during the Akatsuki's invasion of Konoha! I'm so glad you're alive!" the female Kage exclaimed, practically jumping up and down.

"It's . . . good to . . . see you, too, Mizukage-san…" Sakura almost choked. "But . . . you're . . . crushing me…"

"Oh, right." the Mizukage dropped the pink-haired kunoichi. "Sorry, forgot my own strength. Hee-hee…"—she cleared her throat—"But I've told you countless of times before: call me Mei-chan or Terumi-san, never Mizukage-san. It's just a title, and it ain't _my name_!"

"H-Hai, Mizu--I mean, Terumi-san…"

By that point, both females' groups had appeared by their sides.

"Ugly, who is this lady?" Sai asked, a little baffled by the whole scene in front of him. Weren't they just trying to defend themselves against an unknown enemy? "And why is she calling you '_Saki_'?"

"Oh, _that_… Well…" Sakura scratched her head, a little timorous to answer.

"It's a combination of her namesake and her master's favorite drink, sake." Ao explained, a smile tugged on his lips. "It's written with the kanji[3] for '_cherry blossom_' and '_sake_.' But there are other ways of writing it: blossom, cherry blossom princess, blooming happiness, blooming hope, blooming strength, blooming radiance, bloom cherry blossom, blooming skill, etc." But all that technical talk only earned him a whack on the head.

"Oh, be quiet, ya big show-off!" Mei said. "I've already got a big headache because of that Uchiha _brat_ and that _rude_ medical-nin! Don't make it any worse!"

"Wait… Are you talking about _Sasuke_?" Sakura asked. "What did he do _this _time?"

"Well . . . I know he used to be your teammate, Saki," Mei said, a little sorry for the pink-haired kunoichi. "But--"

"He has committed acts so unforgivable that he must be put to death!" Chojuro finished the Mizukage's sentence but not in the way she wanted to say it. He _also_ received a whack to his head.

"_Baka_! I wasn't going to say it like _that_!" Mei scolded. "Try to be a little more considerate next time!"

"No, it's fine." The firmness in Sakura's voice surprised not only the Konoha nin but also the Kirigakure nin. "Sasuke is a rogue ninja who deflected from his village, so it's only natural that he should be executed. I'm sorry that we've been unable to do so for these past few years, Terumi-san, but I promise you that he will be put to death soon."

"Sakura-san…" Lee couldn't believe how tough Sakura sounded. Why, she almost didn't sound like herself, let alone the fan-girl she once was.

"Saki, I'm glad that you came to that decision, but…" Mei looked at the girl straight in the eye, looking for any signs of sadness. "You don't have to be the one to do it. You're a strong kunoichi, all of us know that. You don't have to prove yourself."

"I'm not proving myself, Terumi-san." Sakura replied, still keeping her poker face on. "This is Konoha's responsibility, but it was mostly _my_ fault that we've not sentenced him to death yet. In turn, this is more my responsibility than anyone else's. I need to see to it that he's disposed of."

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**(Meanwhile, Sasuke fights Danzo. Blah, blah, blah… I'm sorry, but I _really_ don't want to write this part out. If any of you would, please tell me and I'll put your fight in this fanfiction and replace this part. I'm sorry, but I really, really, really don't want to write this part. I just don't like Danzo at all, so I'll leave it to you guys to imagine this or read manga. Sorry, again. But I will tell you this: there's a huge explosion at the end, and I don't mean fireworks. And Danzo is probably still alive, maybe near death—very, very close to death.)**

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_Boom!_

"What was that!?" Chojuro asked.

"Sakura! I smell _blood_!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Then let's go!" But before they left, Sakura bowed her head to the Mizukage. "Sorry to cut our conversation short, Terumi-san, but, as a medical-nin, I must aid the injured!"

"It's quite alright. I understand, just hurry." Mei said. "Whoever's injured needs your help if your friend can smell the blood from here."

"Arigato, Terumi-san!" And with that, the Konoha nin left the area.

"Are you sure that was a wise decision, Mizukage-san?" Chojuro asked once he knew that the Konoha nin were out of earshot.

"_Meaning_?"

"Lady Mizukage, I see them heading towards Uchiha Sasuke." Ao said, his Byakugan activated.

"_So_?"

"Mizukage! Shouldn't we stop them?" Ao asked.

"We can afford to turn a blind eye on this, just this _once_, can't we?" Mei asked. "Saki has gone through a lot, and we should give her the chance to correct things and make things right."

"But, Mizukage-san, Saki is only a girl and only a teenager." Ao argued. "We cannot allow her to go through with this."

But finding some hidden meaning in the middle-aged man's words about something offensive towards Sakura's love life, Mei grabbed him by the neck and hoisted him in the air. "NOW LOOK HERE!" she said ever-so-menacingly. "SHE ALREADY SAID SHE'D TAKE CARE OF IT, SO LET HER DO WHATEVER SHE WANTS TO DO!! I HAVE TRUST IN HER, SO YOU SHOULD TOO! AND IF YOU EVEN TRY TO STOP HER, I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD! GOT IT!?"

"H-H-Hai . . . Mi-Mi-Mizukage-san…" Ao said, bit shaken up.

"THAT GOES FOR YOU, TOO, CHOJURO!!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Chojuro said, a bit frightened. _Man, she sure is feisty. . . . I _like_ that!_

"Oy!" Mei dropped Ao and turned away from her two companions to the trees. "You guys can come down from there now!"

And there shadows came down from the trees. "Turning a blind eye like that and trusting a teenage girl to do a hunter-nin's job, that's very unlike you, Terumi."

"Well, it's very unlike you to just sit in a tree and not spring into action when you see or _hear_ something you don't like." Terumi smiled as she added, "Onoki."

"Hey! You can't speak to the Tsuchikage like that!" Onoki's large bodyguard said.

"_Enough_, Akatsuchi! Don't forget you're talking to the Mizukage." Onoki's female bodyguard said.

"But, Kurotsuchi--"

"_Enough_, Akatsuki." the old man said. He faced Terumi. "Do you _really_ believe it's _wise_ to send _that girl_ to fight the Uchiha? Have you _forgotten_ her connection to _him_!?"

"Well . . . for your first question, my answer is: _Yes_, I _do_ believe it's wise to send Sakura off to fight the Uchiha. After all, you saw how determined she was. If I had said no, she still would have gone anyway." the Mizukage answered. "And for your second question, do you mean her connection to _Sasuke_ or her connection to _Madara_ of which—may I remind you—she hasn't any idea of?"

"Both, of course." the Third Tsuchikage answered. "There is a reason why Shizuka wanted her daughter _away_ from Madara."

"You're actually using my cousin's name." Terumi teased with a giggle or two. "My, I never thought the day would come."

"I meant no insult to you or your cousin."

"Of course, I know that, but..?" Terumi paused, knowing that Onoki had more to say.

"But Shizuka was a demon! The surviving Chiropteran _Queen_! If she didn't want her daughter near Madara, it must mean _some_thing! Don't you think it's weird she wouldn't want Karai and Madara to meet when they're father-and-daughter?"

"Well, first of all, my niece's name is _Sakura_ now, not Karai—at least, not _anymore_." Terumi snapped. "And secondly, Sakura's hidden powers are far more dangerous than any Chiropterans'—why, she's even _stronger_ than Shizuka ever was! Why would my dear cousin allow such a powerful weapon to fall into that _bastard's_ hands!?"

"But you're letting all of your cousin's hard work go in vain!" Onoki argued. "If Karai"—the Mizukage opened her mouth to protest, so the Tsuchikage corrected himself—"I mean, _Sakura_ were to go fight Sasuke, she's _bound_ to meet her father!"

"Yes, but there's no possible way Madara would recognize her!" Ao said, jumping into the conversation; his voice a little raised. "Why, even Mizukage-san couldn't recognize her own niece until the Godaime Hokage told her who Sakura actually was!"

"But that doesn't mean Madara will be as _blind_!" Kurotsuchi yelled back. "Have you _forgotten_ the fact that he wields the _Sharingan_? If he even activates it and _looks_ at the girl, he _will_ know or, at least, grow suspicious! And once he _does_ grow suspicious, he _will_ go to investigate or, at least, send his followers! And I'm sure you don't want your niece to know _anything_ about her true origins and background!"

"Well, why _not_?" Terumi shot an angered tone back at the Iwa nin. "She _is_ my _niece_, and I've grown tired of keeping this secret from her. I want her to know that I'm her aunt, her mother's cousin, and I want her to know that she was loved by her mother and her whole family. The only thing holding me back is that shocked look on her face when her whole life is turned upside-down. I don't want her to go through that. I don't want her to think she was abandoned and only loved out of pity. I don't want her to think she was the only one kept in the dark, and I don't want her to feel like she has no one in the world to trust. And if I let her go through something like that, what kind of aunt would I be? Right now, the only thing I _can_ do is letting her go and do what _she_ thinks is correct. I can only support her—and if she chooses to go to that Uchiha boy, I'll support her through thick and thin. I _won't_ let her be hurt, and I _won't_ allow Madara to even _know_ she's still alive."

"You know…"

Terumi's eyes widened at the familiarity of that voice and so did the other ninja.

"I'm right _here_."

Their eyes rummaged around the area.

"And I already knew…"

Finally, their eyes narrowed in on a high tree branch where the man stood.

"That my daughter was _indeed_ alive, but I didn't feel like ruining her happy little playground just yet."

"Uchiha Madara!" the bodyguards exclaimed.

"_BASTARD_, WERE YOU _THERE_ THE _WHOLE TIME_!?!" Terumi snarled through clenched teeth.

The Uchiha faced down at the Mizukage and, behind his mask, he smirked. "Now, now, Teru-chan, that's _no way_ to talk to your cousin-in-law." And in a swift movement, he dodged a kunai.

"_BASTARD_, DON'T YOU _DARE_ CALL ME THAT!" Terumi screamed, reaching for another kunai. "YOU _FORSAKEN_ SHIZUKA AND DROVE HER TO DEATH!! DO YOU THINK I'D ACTUALLY _FORGIVE_ YOU FOR _THAT_!?!"

"There, there, we separated right after she became pregnant." he explained. "But if I had _known_ that the child was _mine_ from the beginning and not her ex's, as she had _told_ me, I would've stayed with her. She was stubborn, and she got what she deserved."

"_BASTARD_!!" Terumi aimed for Madara's head.

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"Naruto, what will you do?" Kakashi asked his now completely heartbroken former student.

"I don't know," the now not-so-hyperactive ninja said. "Give me some time to actually . . . figure things out… I really don't know what to do…"

"Naruto, it's fine." Yamato spoke. "Whatever your decision is and however late it comes, Kakashi and I'll support it."

"Really?" the kyuubi-container's ears perked up.

_No, not really._ Yamato thought, and he was actually very close to saying that. But being the good person he was, he restrained himself and said, "Why, _of course_. Have I ever _lied_ to you before?" But in actuality, he was crossing his fingers behind his back.

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**Arigato = thank you (everyone should know this)**

**Baka = idiot**

**Godaime = fifth (as in Godaime Hokage for "Fifth Hokage")**

**Iwa = Rock (as in Hidden Stone Village [Iwagakure])**

**Kyaa = eek**

**[1] = an unnamed jutsu that the Fifth Mizukage (Terumi Mei) uses**

**[2] = a common nickname for Sakura in many different fanfictions. And ironically, "Saki" can be written as 咲 (blossom), 桜姫 (cherry blossom princess), 咲喜 (blooming happiness), 咲希 (blooming hope), 咲毅 (blooming strength), 咲輝 (blooming radiance), 咲桜 (blooming cherry blossom) or 咲伎 (blooming skill), but the way I'm using it is written as 桜酒, meaning "Cherry blossom sake." There are more meanings to this name.**

**[3] = the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system along with hiragana (ひらがな, 平仮名), katakana (カタカナ, 片仮名), Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet (also known as Romaji). The Japanese term kanji (漢字) literally means "Han characters."**

**Oh, and yes, I know you might not be familiar with some of the characters in this chapter, but the only crossover here is Shizuka. (Yeah, I changed Sakura's mother. Sorry about that, but I had a better idea, so yeah...) The rest are all original _Naruto_ characters made by Kishimoto. Read the manga to learn more about them or, if you really don't want to do that, please tell me in your review, and I'll type up a character list. (Please don't make me type up a character list.)**


	2. Chapter 2: Will

--The prequel of dragon lady龍女ドラゴンレディー, have you ever wondered what happened before Shizune's death? Well, here's the story behind it. ----Based on a Whole lot of things---

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**Phew! This chapter's done, yay! I'm sorry if it's super crappy, but I promise I'll re-write this chapter and the other crappy chapters in due time. Thank you for supporting my fanfiction! Oh, and this chapter is named after Ayumi Hamasaki's _Will_.**

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2. Will

"Whoa… Who knew that a battlefield could look this _awful_?" Kiba said, examining their surroundings.

And indeed, the battlefield did look horrible. Blood was everywhere, everything in sight seemed to be broken, and there wasn't life anywhere nearby. Not even the birds would fly above this place.

"What _happened_ here?" Lee asked.

"Don't know, but it's nothing we can't investigate." Sakura said. "Lee, Kiba, and Akamaru, you three scout the south and west. Sai and I will scout the north and east. Meet back here in an hour."

"Right."

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"Wow, it's almost as if a decade of war had been fought in this small tiny space." Kiba said, Akamaru sniffing the ground for any strange scents.

"Yes, this kind of thing is terrible." Lee said. "This is why we are going against Madara, to prevent this kind of thing from happening."

"Arf! Arf!" Akamaru barked, looking straight forward.

"What is it, boy?" Kiba asked. "Do you smell something weird?"

But Akamaru kept barking.

"What is the matter, Kiba?" Lee asked, trying to see what the problem was. "I do not see anything but trees."

Kiba took a whiff of the air around him, and his eyes widened. "Something's _burning_!" he said.

"Explosives?"

"No, I think it's just fire."

"_Fire_?"

"Yeah, just up ahead."

"But, Kiba, there are only trees."

"Then . . . what are those black things swaying in the wind?"

"There is no breeze, and those black things are leaves…" But Lee's voice trailed off as he got a better look at them. "No, it is a _fire_! A _black_ fire!"

"But then . . . isn't that--"

"Yes, it's the Amaterasu." a deep voice said, his orange mask visible in the dark shadows of the trees.

"Madara!"

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"This is _weird_." Sai said, going through the soil to find anything useful. "Normally, there would be _some_ kind of trace that would lead us to the battalions, but here…"

"Perhaps, it wasn't two _groups_. Maybe it was only two _people_ who fought against each other." Sakura suggested.

"Two_ people_?" the artist asked. "You have people in mind who could do _this_ much damage?"

"Yes…" Sakura answered. "One of them was _definitely_ Sasuke. You saw what he could do in Orochimaru's base. He definitely had a hand in this, but the other person… I can't think of anyone else."

Sai nodded his head. "I think . . . I _might_ know."

"You _do_? Who, Sai?"

"I can't talk about him."

Sakura realized then. "So, do you mean to say that _Danzo_ was fighting against Sasuke?"

Sai nodded his head. "That's what it looks like so far."

"Oh Kami… This is _not_ good…" Sakura looked around at their surroundings once more and started calculating. "If this is what they could do to just _this_ place . . . then . . . what would happen if the war were to actually happen? I think Madara's just planning for everyone to start hating each other."

"What would he accomplish with that?"

"I don't know, but living in a world of hate isn't going to be a bed of roses, Sai. I have a bad feeling about this…It's like--"

_"AHHHHHHHH!!!!"_ The scream was heard throughout the forest.

"Wasn't that..?"

"Yeah… Something must have happened to Lee and Kiba!"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Sakura asked. "Let's go!"

And off they went in search of their teammates, expecting the worst just because that was how ninjas were trained to think. They hid their chakra signatures as they came close to the site and hid in the surrounding trees. And they saw their teammates, captured and tied up. But there were a few more captives and, to Sai and Sakura's surprise, they were: the Mizukage, the Tsuchikage, and their bodyguards.

"_No way_!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Who could have done such a thing?"

"I don't know, Sai, but whoever it was . . . they're probably incredibly powerful to have taken out two of the Kages."

"And you're incredibly correct, Haruno Sakura." a voice said from behind the two Konoha nin.

Their guard up, Sai and Sakura jumped out of their hiding spot and into a fighting stance, facing their opponent.

"Now, now…" the masked Akatsuki member said, coming out into the opening with his hands up. "I just came to _talk_."

"_NO_!" Mei shrieked. "Don't listen to him, Saki! He'll tell you _nothing_ worth listening to--AH!"

"Mizukage-san!" Sakura and the Kiri-nins saw the rope tightening around Mei as she coughed up blood.

Madara chuckled, and Sakura turned to glare at him.

"Well, now that I've got your attention…" he said, "I'll make a deal with you. If you go through with your part of the deal then I'll go through with my part, _capiche_?"

Sakura stayed silent, complementing her choices—well, actually, right now, it was either do as the bastard said or have the Mizukage and Tsuchikage probably _killed_. It really wasn't much of a choice…

"_Alright_, alright…" she finally said. "I'll hear you out."

Madara smirked, "Good."

But suddenly, Sai was soon wrapped in the some rope as the others.

"Sai!"

"Now, now, girlie… One false move and I'll kill _all_ of them." Madara said. "Now hear me out: one of my friends is seriously injured, and our medical-nin isn't all that good. I need someone of Lady Tsunade's caliber but, unfortunately, she's in a coma right now, so she's not going to be of much help. You can see where I'm going with this, _no_?"

"Yeah, I hear ya." Sakura snarled. "And _if_ I agree to this..?"

"I'll let all of your little friends go free, and I won't attack Konoha for _at least_ a month or so. But if you _don't_ help me, I'll kill all your friends right here and now. And then I'll go and unleash the tailed-beasts I've collected on your village. So . . . what will it be: help me or see death?"

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**I hope you all like my chapter. Again, I'm sorry if it's crappy. I'll re-write it when I get enough time. The next chapter will go back to the main story, and I'll figure out where I want to put the rest of the mini-story.**

**I do have the third chapter written up, but I want to fix some things and make sure it works with the original plot of dragon lady龍女ドラゴンレディー, you know? So, yeah... I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Hopefully, I'll get the next chapter up before you all lose hope on this! Thank you and please review!**


	3. Chapter 3: agony

--The prequel of dragon lady龍女ドラゴンレディー, have you ever wondered what happened before Shizune's death? Well, here's the story behind it. ----Based on a Whole lot of things---

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**Yay! A new chapter! I can't believe I got it up! Can you?**

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3. agony

Sakura was definitely uncomfortable. After all, it was only moments ago that she had been offered her choices—choices that had almost torn her apart: save her friends or let them and an international (and highly dangerous) criminal die. Now, here she was on her way to _heal_ said criminal. In return, Madara freed her friends, but the second part of his deal had yet to be seen. However, though Sakura had no choice but to trust the Uchiha's words, she still had her doubts. After all, Madara _was_ after the Kyuubi within her teammate and was _not_ to be trusted.

And so, as she entered the criminal campsite, she continued to watch her back. She had no one she knew or trusted with her, so that tended to make her wary of her surroundings.

"Oy, Madara-sama! Who's the hot chick?" The question came from a white-haired and purple-eyed guy with sharp, pointy teeth. But it wasn't his strange appearance that caught Sakura's attention; it was the weapon he was holding, the Guillotine Sword[1]—_Zabuza's_ sword. (Yeah, I know it broke in the recent chapters, but I thought it'd be cool to have it in my story, you know?)

"Hmp, I didn't know the Akatsuki stooped so low as to grave-robbing," the Konoha kunoichi sneered.

"Well, technically, _Pinkie_,"—Sakura frowned at her new nickname_—_"_I_ didn't steal from my senpai's grave; some other guy did, so I stole it back from him. Besides, I think Zabuza would rather want his sword in _my_ hands than in the hands of some stranger's."

"_Actually_," Sakura argued, "I think he'd rather have his sword by his grave than in the hands of _another_ ruthless killer."

"Wow! Thanks, Pinkie! I didn't know you thought so highly of me." Apparently, the grave-robber thought of the girl's words as a comment. "By the way, the name's Suigetsu. Glad to have you on the team."

"Sakura's the name, and . . . sorry to disappoint you, but I'm _not_ joining Akatsuki." Sakura almost cringed at the thought. "In fact, I'm here against my will."

"_Oh_?" Suigetsu blinked his eyes a couple of times, feelings really stupid. "Then . . . you're here as a _hostage_?"

"No, you idiot!" a rough, feminine voice yelled. A red-headed girl with glasses and a really weird hairdo came out of a tent. "She's a medical nin. Not only that, she's also Tsunade's top pupil."

"Suna-_who_?" the swordsman asked.

"Tsuna_de_, the only _female_ and the only _living_ Sannin left." Karin told her teammate. And just from the sound of her voice, Sakura knew that she didn't want to be there at all.

"I _so_ rather be by Sasuke's side right now."

_Yep… She _so_ doesn't want to be here right now… _Sakura thought, but then panic ran though her mind. _Hold on! Did she say _'Sasuke'_? As in my _ex-teammate 'Sasuke'_? Oh, Kami… Is it too late to let my friends die?_ "Anoo . . . Madara, is it too late to take back my answer?"

"Let Tobi think…" Madara said, pretending to think about his answer. "Yeah, Tobi thinks it's too late."

"B-b-b-but--"

"It's too late to get cold feet _now_!" Madara/Tobi said, pushing Sakura towards Sasuke's tent. "Don't forget that Tobi can still unleash the tailed-beasts onto Konoha, so listen good to Tobi!"

"But--" _I really don't want to!_

✿｡.:**.:｡✿

"Shimatta… _Shimatta_! SHIMATTA!! I can't _believe_ this! Oh, what am I going to do? Should I send the ANBU or should I go myself? What should I do?" Mei asked herself, going through all of the possibilities in her head. "Oh, Kami… What am I going to _do_?"

"Mei, ochitsui te…" Onoki said, a bit fed up with the Mizukage's quiet rants. "Madara only needs her to heal one of his subordinates—probably Sasuke. And--"

"_What_!? _Sasuke_!?!" Kiba asked. "What makes you think it's _him_!?"

"Because he was seriously injured when he fought with the Kages." Kurotsuchi answered.

"_What_!?" Lee asked. "Sasuke _fought_ with the _Kages_!?"

"Yes, he stormed into the meeting room like a crazy man on fire trying to kill Danzo." Akatsuchi said. "It was so _scary_…"

Kurotsuchi scoffed. "You're a ninja for Kami's sake! How could you let such a small thing scare you?"

"But he _was_ scary!"

"You _idiot_!" Kurotsuchi scolded her fellow ninja. "How could you even call yourself a shinobi if you get scared that _easily_!?"

And so, while that "fight" was going on, the Konoha nin just watched on, trying to plan a rescue mission but were completely distracted by said fight.

"You know, that girl kind of reminds me of Sakura…" Sai said. "Ugh, I hope Ugly's okay…"

"Do not worry, Sai-san. Sakura-san will be okay!" Lee yelled to the Heavens. "If not then Naruto will beat us to a pulp!"

"Hey, that's _it_!" A light-bulb went off in Kiba's head. "One of us should go get Naruto!"

"Yes, but _who_?"

The Konoha nin looked at each other and came to the decision that the wisest way to decide it was…

"Jan-ken-pon!"

All rock, no winner.

"Jan-ken-pon!"

All paper, no winner.

"Jan-ken-pon!"

All scissors, no winner.

"Jan-ken-pon!"

One rock, one paper, one scissors, and _still_ no winner.

"_OKAY_!" Kiba yelled, completely frustrated. "We're getting _nowhere_ with this!"

"Gee, ya _think_!?"

✿｡.:**.:｡✿

For some reason, as Sakura began to heal the ex-Konoha nin, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. After all, international criminal or not, he _did_ lose his family when young. And it was not too long ago that he killed off his brother. _Really… In all retrospect, he has _had_ a pretty messed-up life… Can anyone really blame him? He--No, I can't feel sorry for the _enemy_. He's the reason why I'm stuck here in the first place. I just need to focus on getting through the day… Today..? Hm… Why does it feel like I'm _forgetting_ something..? I--Oh, shit! I forgot! It's Hotaru's birthday! Oh Kami! And I don't even have a present for her! Oh, Kami… She'll throw a tantrum…_

Sakura was so worried about her younger sister that unknowingly she added way too much chakra to her healing jutsu, and Sasuke started coughing.

"Oops… Gomen, gomen…" the kunoichi apologized to the unconscious rouge nin as she regulated her chakra flow, and the Uchiha seemed to relax. _But still . . . for him to live this kind of life, it's so sad… I--_

_Fire blazed as the villagers continued to throw their torches at this one hut. Inside, a woman dressed in s traditional ceremonial robe sat, complementing her death. She seemed to be at peace, to have no regrets. However…_

_"Okaasan! Okaasan! Don't go! Don't leave me!"_

_When she heard her small child's protests—saw her daughter being held back by her closest family member, her cousin—tears came to the woman's eyes._

_"Okaasan! Okaasan!" the child, no less than three, continued to cry._

_The fire grew, inching towards the woman. She could _not_ leave her _child_! She could _not_ let her family suffer the same fate! She moved her lips, words—a forbidden jutsu—came out._

_And in a split second before the fire engulfed her, what seemed like huge cherry blossom petals sprouted from the ground, surrounding the woman, and everything the fire touched turned to ashes._

"_OKAASAN_!!" Sakura jumped to her feet, a bit shaken, as she found herself back in the enemy's medical tent. She her head and fell back to her knees. _What the Hell was that..? That woman . . . she's . . . she's not my mother . . . so . . . why in the world..? _She went back to healing the ex-Konoha nin, but her chakra flow was unstable; her vision a bit blurry. _Can I step out for a bit? _she wondered as she left the tent, unaware of the two red eyes that watched her.

She came to a nearby river and doused her whole face with water. She touched her forehead. Regular temperature, so she didn't have a fever.

_Well, _that's_ not good… I'm hallucinating… Maybe it's because I'm around world-class criminals… _She giggled to herself and started back to the medical tent.

And to her shock and surprise, Sasuke was wide awake, staring at the tent's ceiling.

Sakura didn't know what to do. She was speechless—well, not for long anyway. "Oh, good! You're awake!" she said, _trying_ to keep a smile on her face, but, even thought she was smiling, inside, she was a complete emotional wreck! She felt like running far, far away from him but, at the same time, she wanted to stay with him. In fact, her heart felt like exploding, and her brain felt dead. "I was wondering when you'd wake up. Are you still in pain?"

No answer.

"Well, I guess I'll be leaving then." She turned to leave, but then…

"Sakura."

…She stopped. She could've kept going and ignored the Uchiha, but she stopped. "I won't be leaking out any information if that's what you're worried about," she said without turning back to look at her ex-teammate.

"What are you doing here?" the Uchiha asked.

_I wanted to see you again… _"Madara will tell you."

But before the kunoichi even took a step, the Uchiha grabbed her hand and spun her around. Emerald met ebony that soon turned red.

"I didn't ask him… I asked _you_." His grip tightened around the kunoichi's wrist, almost hurting her.

"_Itai_! Let go of me, Sasuke! Stop it! You're _hurting_ me!"

"I'll asked again: what are you doing here!?"

"Healing _you_!" Sakura yelled back. "Madara took my squad and the Mizukage and Tsuchikage hostage! What _else_ was I supposed to do!?"

"You had the perfect chance to kill me…"

_Of course, I knew that… And yet…_

"Why didn't you?"

The kunoichi stopped her struggling then and scoffed. "Uchiha, how am I supposed to tell you the answer when I don't _know_ it myself?"

Sasuke didn't say anything, narrowing his eyes, as his ex-teammate trembled.

"I _should've_ killed you when I had the chance… If I did . . . then this would've been so much _easier_. However . . . I couldn't even bring myself to even _see_ you writhe in pain…"—By this time, tears flowed out of the kunoichi's eyes—"I could've watched you die slowly from your wounds… I could've saved myself a whole lot of trouble, but I _chose_ to save you without a moment's hesitation! I don't know why, so stop bothering me about it because I don't know the answer! I don't know!! _I DON'T KNOW_!!"

* * *

**Anoo = um…**

**Gomen, gomen = sorry, sorry [informal]**

**Itai = ow; ouch**

**Jan-ken-pon = rock-papers-scissors**

**Kami = God**

**Ochitsui te = calm down**

**Okaasan = mother**

**Senpai = senior (at work or school); superior; elder; older graduate; progenitor; old-timer**

**Shimatta = damn it!**

**[1] = This giant blade was used by Zabuza during his membership as one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. After defecting from Kirigakure, he continued to use it up until his death. It was left beside his grave, near the Great Naruto Bridge, until Suigetsu took it for himself three years later. In the manga, Suigetsu simply takes the blade from Zabuza's grave. In the anime, after Zabuza's demise, the blade was stolen by Tenzen Daikoku, a crime boss who lost many men to the blade, as a trophy, and was used by one of his bodyguards until Suigetsu took it forcefully.**

**Yay! Chapter is finished! How do you guys like it so far? Good, bad, no? Please tell me in your review! Oh, and this chapter is named after KOTOKO's _agony_ after Sakura's pain in this chapter. Thank you for reading and please review!**


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